I have had enough of using Millenium and need to get hold of XP in a legal way

So, do I just buy the upgrade software and stick it in this pc that I've had since 2002, or do I go for a brand new tower with XP all ready for me? My student i.d. is still valid until the end of September if that's acceptable to get the student priced upgrade.

XP doesn't run well with less than 512Mb of memory, so that might be the main consideration. Ebuyer do good deals on XP (look for the OEM versions)

Phil

personally id just buy a new tower is your machine is still the same as when you first bought it

XP doesn't run well with less than 512Mb of memory' date=' so that might be the main consideration.

Phil[/quote']

I have limited knowledge when it comes to computers A consideration for what? may I ask

personally id just buy a new tower is your machine is still the same as when you first bought it

I think it may have had a new mother board since I bought it. I have a new flat screen so I would only be looking to change the tower.

I would personally avoid an upgrade route from Millenium - a clean install of XP will be much better. What Phil is saying is that your current PC might not be up to the job of running XP, depending on how old it is, spec, etc

Chris

Thanks for taking into consideration my lack of knowledge and talking to me in english Chris:O

Personally, I would like to buy a new tower but I can just see it now......

Mr P: Now we have a new tower we may aswell buy a new screen, keypad, mouse etc and have two computers :D

Me:

I'd just buy a new PC - there are some good dell deals listed here.

http://www.dmxdimension.com/

or go to novatech:

www.novatech.co.uk

only across the water from you!! thats where we get all our computers from.

I have had enough of using Millenium and need to get hold of XP in a legal way

So' date=' do I just buy the upgrade software and stick it in this pc that I've had since 2002, or do I go for a brand new tower with XP all ready for me? My student i.d. is still valid until the end of September if that's acceptable to get the student priced upgrade.[/quote']

For the student edition when you stop being a student your licence to use it also expires.

Best thing to do is either go buy some piece of software and a copy of XP home/Pro or buy a complete tower with it included.

Personally I'd tolerate windows Me a little longer then get yourself a new tower with Vista on it. That way your hardware will have been designed for vista.

XP requires a *lot* more resource than Windows Me, and you will probably find it will run very slow without at least 512Mb RAM

Thanks for the links but this is starting to do my head in. Anyone recommend just a tower?

or go to novatech:

www.novatech.co.uk

only across the water from you!! thats where we get all our computers from.

I drive past it every day to work, so if you want something (eg a small box such as software) I can collect and stick it on a red funnel parcel service for you to collect at the other end.

How thoroughly kind of you

Tower - look at mesh they always have a bargin basement system in and the monitor, kbd and mouse are free to all intents and purposes.

I would seriously recommend waiting until January time though as you will get Vista then and a vista capable system.

I too would be looking for a new tower with XP pre installed... Something Dell around £300 would be where my money went.

Hi Pixi

To the best of my knowledge, you cannot upgrade from ME to XP, other than by a clean install (i.e. wiping the disk of the OS and starting again, and risking losing any data you have on there). IOW the ME operating system is just too different simply to add extra XP bits on.

Also, as said, if your computer is now some 4 years old, bits will start wearing out as they reckon 5 years is pretty much the upper time limit for anything that's still going, so I'd personally be thinking new tower (as also suggested), plus as that means you have two computers, you've got all the time in the world to transfer your stuff across and a handy free computer not connected to the Net - which is very useful for keeping personal records on that cannot be hacked

HTH

Mo

Personally I'd tolerate windows Me a little longer then get yourself a new tower with Vista on it. That way your hardware will have been designed for vista.

XP requires a *lot* more resource than Windows Me' date=' and you will probably find it will run very slow without at least 512Mb RAM[/quote']

Forgive semi hijack, but I waited for WinME as being the latest thing , and it's been almost universally panned ever since Is there any bite-size feedback re Vista yet? What would be the system specs for Vista?

Unfortunately, I've only read marketing info, so just wondering if anyone has got to grips with the nitty gritty, as I guess it's probably in use in the US already?

Ta

Mo

LOL I have a desktop PC that's around 9 years old that I only recently got round to upgrading to Win2K.

The risk of data loss is 100% down to which options you decide upon when installing the OS.

THERE IS NO REASON TO LOSE DATA IF YOU FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY, ALTHOUGH OF COURSE YOU SHOULD BACK UP YOUR DATA FIRST.

You CAN upgrade ME to XP (although for the good reasons posted by others it may be better to upgrade your hardware at the same time). See here for instructions.

GIYF

Hi Nick & Pixi

Sorry if I've misled. My WinME was an Evesham build so might be restricted re upgrades. They (Evesham) said it couldn't be done and MS site tests said No after testing my computer.

Apols if an upgrade to XP can be done for more "open-built" configurations, though I suspect that excludes Dell as they're usually in an inaccessible secret part of the hard disk, hence the desire always to ensure that CD's come with the computer, though few do of course due to cost and inbuilt obsolescence.

Anyone feel free if I'm talking through my hat.

Yes, the older hardware was ("is" LOL) workhorse stuff

Regards

Mo

Your problem sounds as if it was hardware compatibility, Mo, not OS upgrade path.

Dell and things "in an inaccessible secret part of the hard disk" - that would be the little partition they add for storing the BIOS settings and diagnostics etc. Shouldn't really affect the OS, again. Compaq do this too, btw.

Sometimes they supply "rebuild CDs" instead of vanilla media, which ARE configured to reformat your disk and install a clean build in new partitions. I always avoid those if at all possible, preferring to use the Microsoft CD and find the drivers I need on the web, to avoid loss of data. This is perfectly legal btw - if your computer has a licence for the software it doesn't matter which media you use to install it.

* Goes for a lay down.

Try something like this ....no monitor included but XP is extra

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/pcrange.html?ICP

Forgive semi hijack' date=' but I waited for WinME as being the latest thing , and it's been almost universally panned ever since Is there any bite-size feedback re Vista yet? What would be the system specs for Vista?

Unfortunately, I've only read marketing info, so just wondering if anyone has got to grips with the nitty gritty, as I guess it's probably in use in the US already?

Ta

Mo[/quote']

I was at a rather large san francisco based trade show where vista was running in beta. I wouldn't pay for it, but if my PC came with it rather than XP I'd be happy

System requirements wise, look here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/evaluate/hardware/default.mspx

As for the system with XP seperate.

Go buy the cheapest hard disk you can see that is sueful to you and then buy XP OEM. Total cost for XP OEM and a HDD if about £120

Just built another XP Pro machine, about 400 quid incl. keyboard and official XP Pro SP2 OEM (CDROM). 512MB RAM, 250GB HDD and 16x dual-layer DVD rewriter.

A similar Dell would be about 550 quid, but then they chuck in a TFT monitor. Problem with Dell is that if you start off low, and add what you need, it costs more than starting a little higher. Also no installation CDROM supplied as standard.

Personally I feel Vista is a waste of money right now. It needs a very good graphics card to make the most of it, and the OS is very expensive still.

XP Pro isn't cheap either, but it works well generally speaking.

Problem is XP will leave major support very shortly after Vista comes out, if it was me i would save my money live with Me's wierdness and get a new machine with vista when it comes out.

As i said I wouldn't pay the prices asked for vista, but I would be far happier with PC that came with vista than XP.